HOUSTON DYNAMO vs NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
ROBERTSON STADIUM, Houston, Texas
July 25, 2009 (WEEK 19) / MLS Game #134
7:30 p.m. CT (KHOU/Informa; TV38)
MLS Cup Final opponents in back-to-back seasons, the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution meet for the second time this season. The Dynamo claimed a 2-0 win in Foxborough in early May, the club's first-ever regular season victory against New England. The Dynamo still sit in the lead of the Western Conference despite one win in their last five contests, while the Revolution sit in a tie for fifth in the East after ending their three-game winless skid last week.
REFEREE: Michael Kennedy. SAR (bench): Anthony Vasoli; JAR (opposite): Kermit Quisenberry; 4th: Abbey Okulaja
MLS Career: 117 games; FC/gm: 30.5; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 23; pens: 46
INJURY REPORT: HOUSTON DYNAMO - OUT: DF Eddie Robinson (L knee surgery); DF Richard Mulrooney (R knee surgery); DOUBTFUL: FW Cam Weaver (R groin strain) ... NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION - OUT: DF Chris Albright (L lateral meniscus tear); Edgaras Jankauskas (R hamstring strain); FW Taylor Twellman (concussion); QUESTIONABLE: MF Mauricio Castro (L hamstring strain); DF Amaechi Igwe (L hamstring strain); MF Mike Videira (R quad strain); PROBABLE: DF Kevin Alston (R hamstring strain); MF Shalrie Joseph (R knee cartilage defect/bone bruising); MF Sainey Nyassi (L hamstring strain); DF Emmanuel Osei (L hamstring strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: HOU: Brian Ching; Stuart Holden (USA; CONCACAF Gold Cup) ... NE: Jay Heaps (USA; CONCACAF Gold Cup)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NE: Kenny Mansally
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NE: Jay Heaps, Jeff Larentowicz, Pat Phelan ... HOU: Mike Chabala, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (7 meetings): Dynamo 1 win, 7 goals ... Revolution 3 wins, 13 goals ... Ties 3
AT HOUSTON (3 meetings): Dynamo 0 wins, 1 goal ... Revolution 2 wins, 4 goals ... Ties 1
• The Dynamo defeated the Revolution for the first time in league play in the 2-0 win in Foxborough on May 3. The Revolution had won three of the last four league meetings, over the last two seasons, including sweeping the season set a year ago without conceding a goal (and scoring five).
• The Dynamo defeated the Revolution in the MLS Cup Final two consecutive seasons. In 2007, Houston came back from an early deficit to claim a 2-1 victory at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. (Ngwenya 61, De Rosario 74 - Twellman 20). The year before, the teams played to a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes in MLS Cup 2006 at Pizza Hut Park, before the Dynamo prevailed on penalty kicks (Ching 114 - Twellman 113).
• The Revolution finally got the measure of the Houston Dynamo in a final last year, winning the second edition of SuperLiga on penalty kicks after playing to a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes. Nate Jaqua (18) and Kei Kamara (98) twice put Houston ahead, but Steve Ralston (41) and Shalrie Joseph (102) brought New England back each time, before the Revs again came from behind to prevail 6-5 in the penalty shootout.
• Coaches record: Dominic Kinnear vs. NE: P12 W4 L3 D5 ... Steve Nicol v HOU: P7 W3 L1 D3
LAST MEETING (MLS):
5/3: NE 0, HOU 2 (Holden 22; Ching 58)
• The Houston Dynamo defeated the New England Revolution for the first time in a league match, 2-0 at Gillette Stadium on May 3.
• The Dynamo opened the lead after 22 minutes. Stuart Holden stepped forward in the midfield and let fly with a speculative shot from all of 30 yards. The ball skimmed along the ground and through the legs of New England goalkeeper Matt Reis, making his first appearance in five matches after returning from a knee injury.
• The visitors finished off the match just before the hour. Brad Davis put in a corner from the right and Brian Ching rose up to power home a snap header from the top of the six, his second goal in as many games and third on the season.
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Darrius Barnes, Amaechi Igwe, Jay Heaps - Wells Thompson, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph, Sainey Nyassi - Michael Videira (Pat Phelan 77) - Kheli Dube (Stephane Assengue 65), Kenny Mansally. Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Emmanuel Osei, Chris Tierney, Taylor Twellman, Rob Valentino
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Richard Mulrooney, Geoff Cameron, Bobby Boswell, Wade Barrett (Andrew Hainault 42) - Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis (Corey Ashe 87) - Stuart Holden - Brian Ching (Ade Akinbiyi 87), Kei Kamara. Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall, Julius James, Craig Waibel, Chris Wondolowski
HOUSTON DYNAMO
The Houston Dynamo now have just one win in their last five games, but still came back for a quality point in a 1-1 draw against Toronto FC last Saturday at BMO Field. The Dynamo still lead the Western Conference and MLS overall table with 32 points from 18 matches, now four points ahead of Seattle and Eastern Conference-leading Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC were home for their lone game in Canada in a five-game stretch, having put an end to a two-game losing streak with a win at San Jose last time out, while the Dynamo had stumbled to two losses and a draw in their last four games.
• The home side took the lead after 37 minutes. Danny Dichio, barely 30 seconds after coming on as a substitute, expertly dummied a return pass for Dwayne De Rosario to run onto, and the former Dynamo man scored against his club for the first time with a low angled shot for his sixth on the campaign.
• But the Dynamo hit for the equalizer with a quarter-hour to go. A cross was pumped back into the area and Bobby Boswell slipped in behind the drawn-up TFC defense. His first shot was parried by 'keeper Stefan Frei, but Boswell was able to sneak the rebound past for his first league goal this season.
• Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that lost 2-1 to Seattle Sounders FC the week earlier at Qwest Field. Bobby Boswell and Geoff Cameron returned to the lineup from suspension, in place of the injured Richard Mulrooney and the ill Brad Davis.
• Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel (Ade Akinbiyi 72), Bobby Boswell, Julius James, Mike Chabala - Brian Mullan (Danny Cruz 66), Ricardo Clark, Corey Ashe - Geoff Cameron - Dominic Oduro (Erik Ustruck 80), Kei Kamara. Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Tally Hall, John Michael Hayden, Cam Weaver
TEAM NEWS
• Houston was missing eight regulars from its lineup, including midfielder Brad Davis (flu), the team's assist leader, along with striker Brian Ching, who leads the team in scoring, and midfielder Stuart Holden. Ching and Holden were both away on Gold Cup duty for the United States.
• "Yes, we don't talk about guys that aren't here, because it's unfair to the guys who are here. But to be a goal down at halftime I thought we played very well in the second half. We kind of carried the play, created numerous opportunities, dangerous chances and I thought we were deserving of the draw," said Kinnear.
• It was the sixth career league goal for Boswell, his last in MLS play coming last May against Chicago. He also struck during the Dynamo's quarterfinal Open Cup win against Charleston. But barely 10 minutes before the goal, he cleared a shot off the line at the other end.
• "Goals come from a lot of places. We always encourage our taller players like Boswell to attack the ball in the box, no matter what position they are playing," said Kinnear. " ...He was just so alert in both boxes today and understands the value of playing his role at both ends of the field in defensive positions but also on attack."
• The Revolution match will be the first home game in the last five league games for the Dynamo, and their first in eight in all competitions.
• "We're recovering slowly, but I think what it gives us is a renewed confidence," said defender Craig Waibel. "There are a number of guys that haven't played significant minutes, that all of the sudden have."
• On Tuesday, the Dynamo saw their bid to reach the U.S. Open Cup final ended a step short, falling 2-1 to Seattle Sounders FC in the semifinal at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash. Ade Akinbiyi put the Dynamo into the lead in the 32nd minute, but Nate Jaqua sent the game into extra time with an 89th-minute leveler, then Stephen King scored five minutes into the additional session for the eventual game-winner.
• "We were dodging some bullets there, and in the end, we got hit by one," Kinnear said.
• Here's Kinnear's team: Tally Hall, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Julius James (Mike Chabala 59), Danny Cruz, Corey Ashe (Brian Mullan 68), Erik Ustruck, Brad Davis, John Michael Hayden, Dominic Oduro (Kei Kamara 65), Ade Akinbiyi.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution put an end to their three-game winless run, getting two second-half goals in a 2-0 victory against Chivas USA last Sunday at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution have 20 points from 15 matches, sitting in a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with the Kansas City Wizards, eight points behind division leading Chicago Fire.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had returned to league action the week before with a SuperClasico loss to the LA Galaxy, their first league game in a month and their sixth loss in seven games in all competitions. The Revolution were still in the throes of an injury crisis, winless in three league games in a row.
• Chivas USA owned the opening 45 minutes but couldn't score, and the Revolution took advantage 61 minutes in. A flowing movement out of midfield saw Shalrie Joseph slip the ball behind the Chivas defense and Kheli Dube cracked it past goalkeeper Zach Thornton for his first league goal since the season opener.
• The Revolution put the game away in the 77th minute. Steve Ralston capitalized quickly on a mis-hit clearance and snapped home a low shot from just inside the area for his fifth goal on the campaign.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made one change to the team that played to a scoreless draw with the Kansas City Wizards the week before. Chris Tierney returned to the team, in place of Michael Videira.
• Here's Nicol's team (4-4-1-1): Matt Reis - Kevin Alston, Emmanuel Osei, Darrius Barnes, Chris Tierney - Sainey Nyassi (Wells Thompson 51), Jeff Larentowicz, Pat Phelan (Shalrie Joseph 46), Kenny Mansally (Amaechi Igwe 85) - Steve Ralston - Kheli Dube. Substitutes Not Used: Stephane Assengue, Mauricio Castro, Nico Colaluca, Brad Knighton
TEAM NEWS
• Unhappy with his team's effort over the opening 45 minutes, Nicol brought on Shalrie Joseph at halftime in his first league appearance in more than a month. With Edgaras Jankauskas unavailable with a hamstring injury, Nicol played Joseph as a makeshift striker alongside Kheli Dube and asked him to help spark the offense.
• "Once I go up top, my main objective is to hold the ball, keep possession and get the midfielders to join the attack, especially the wide guys," Joseph said. "We were just trying to move our team forward to keep possession in their defensive third."
• Said Nicol: "It was always going to be a decision whether we played him 45 (minutes) but we wanted to get him on the field. Obviously, we were hoping that things would go well the first half and we wouldn't have to play him because he's not fit, really. He's not injured as I said, but he's not fit."
• The Dube goal was the first in 302 minutes for the Revolution, since Joseph's goal against Kansas City in a 3-1 loss in his last appearance. In the first half, Dube was essentially a lone striker, with Steve Ralston playing underneath.
• "I get opportunities in almost every game, but when you're playing with two forwards, it helps a lot, especially for me and my type of play," Dube said. "When I'm playing alone, it gets kind of hard. With Shalrie there, it makes it easier."
• The Revolution were looking at the Chivas match as a vital one in a bid to improve their playoff placing. After the trip to Houston, five of the next six league games for New England will be at Gillette Stadium.
• "We've talked about how we have games in hand and we've had some injuries and stuff, but at the end of the day, we needed three points tonight," Ralston said. "It's a great result for us."
